Vattenfall and its technology provider subsidiary Feenstra are launching a new high-temperature heat pump. A criticism often raised against heat pumps is the need for additional upgrades to heating systems to accommodate their lower temperature, in particular the need for insulation. This can increase the cost and complexity of switching from a traditional gas
Used lithium-ion batteries taken from carmaker Audi’s electric vehicles (EVs) have been repurposed into a ‘second-life’ stationary energy storage system by energy company RWE at a project in Herdecke, Germany. RWE has deployed the system, which has a capacity of around 4.5MWh, at the site of its pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant at
New data has shown that power from fossil fuels on Britain’s electricity grid fell to an all-time low last week, delivering the UK’s greenest Christmas. The data – from Drax Electric Insights – shows that at 23:45 on Wednesday 29 December, fossil fuels generated 1.7GW of electricity, with this just 6% of the power
What is bidirectional V2H charging, and what can I do with it? Wallbox (WBX), the Barcelona, Spain-based charger maker, announced its second generation Quasar 2 bidirectional charger at CES this week, two years after the original Quasar won our best of CES 2020. The upgrades are many for this new charger, which we consider to be
A new law will force car advertisements in France to carry messages that encourage more eco-friendly forms of transport such as cycling and public transport. Many products in France are required to carry warnings: “Smoking kills”; “Avoid eating too much fat”; “Abuse of Alcohol is dangerous for your health”. From March 2022, a new law will
Only new or refurbished commercial buildings should install charge points, the DfT says, citing fears over cost The government has quietly backtracked on proposals to require every shop, office or factory in England to install at least one electric car charger if they have a large car park, prompting criticism by environmental campaigners. The
The price cap could jump 46% for summer 2022, hitting approximately £1,865 as wholesale power prices remain high. Currently, the winter 2021-22 cap is set at £1,277 per annum – which is itself a record high – but could increase by almost 50% when the new cap is set by Ofgem in February 2022,
Keep the lights on with one of these backup power sources. When you live somewhere with extreme weather or regular power outages, it's a good idea to have a backup power source for your home. There are various types of backup power systems on the market, but each of them serves the same primary purpose:
Changes to how solar PV park land in the UK is managed could see sites support four times as many bumble bees, new research has found. Specifically, this can be achieved by managing land as meadows rather than turf grass, with researchers at Lancaster University coming to this conclusion through the use of a model that simulated
Heat pumps and solar thermal are among technologies suggested by the government to help meet new carbon reduction goals. Under the new regulations, announced by the government yesterday (15 December), CO2 emissions from new build homes from 15 June 2022 must be around 30% lower than current standards and emissions from other new buildings,